Facts About Beefalo

Anything you can do with regular beef you can do with Beefalo.

Beefalo can be used in any beef recipe with any of the usual cooking methods (grilling, braising, roasting, etc.). Consumers will enjoy the same beefy taste as other beef cuts, but usually won't notice the same greasy after-taste. While Beefalo is great as steaks, roasts, and burgers, it's also a good choice for combination dishes like meatloaf, chili, and stews because of its lower fat content.

Beefalo meat has less total fat, less saturated fat, less cholesterol, and fewer calories.

Tests conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture have demonstrated Beefalo's superior protein efficiency. While it has more protein than beef from ordinary cattle, Beefalo has fewer calories and significantly lower levels of both total fats and saturated fats. For more information on this subject, go to the Nutritional Information section

Beefalo is more convenient because it cooks quickly and cleanly.

There are two primary kinds of fat in meats...external fat and intramuscular fat. While a lot of the external fat can be trimmed away before cooking, intramuscular fat (usually called "marbling") cannot be cut out without destroying the meat. It must be melted away.

Fat is an excellent insulator, so part of the heat and time needed for cooking normal beef is used to melt the fat. Typically, Beefalo has less external and intramuscular fat, so more of the heat is being used to cook the meat. That's why both Beefalo and Bison meat need significantly less cooking time to reach a specified level of "doneness". Less fat in the meat also means less grease and mess to deal with during clean-up.

Beefalo producers are less likely to use steroids, growth hormones, or excessive antibiotics.

Most typical Beefalo producers have been practicing "natural" or "organic" beef production since long before it became fashionable or ecologically correct. While there are no rules prohibiting Beefalo producers from using excessive antibiotics or artificial growth stimulants on their animals, most refrain from doing so because of their heightened concern for the integrity and quality of the meat itself. That emphasis on meat quality is often the reason they started raising Beefalo in the first place.

Beefalo is a cross-breed of domestic cattle and Bison (American Buffalo)

Beefalo is a combination of buffalo and domestic cattle, but the combining doesn't take place in a mixing bowl. It's the result of cross breeding. The bison influence in Beefalo can range from 17% to 37.5% (3/8). "Fullblood" Beefalo have 3/8 Bison genetics. Crossbred cattle with more than 3/8 Bison are properly classified as "Bison Hybrids".

Virtually any other breed of domestic cattle can be used to create Beefalo.

It's a well-established principle that the cross-breeding of two or more breeds of domestic cattle will usually result in calves with genetic strengths and improved hybrid vigor. Many of today's composite cattle breeds are the result of cross-breeding programs which have combined three or more breeds of domestic cattle.

A Beefalo can have up to 3/8 Bison genetics. The other 5/8 of the genetic makeup can come from virtually any of the domestic breeds of cattle (Angus, Limousin, Hereford, etc.) or from any of the newer composite breeds (Beefmaster, Santa Gertrudis, etc.). The breeding can be accomplished by natural service, by artificial insemination, or by using newer reproductive techniques like embryo transfer.

Beefalo offers many production advantages over other breeds of cattle.

The American Bison is one of the most perfectly adapted grazing animals on the planet. It can survive under harsh conditions and can thrive on land considered unsuitable for domestic cattle. Bison calves are generally smaller at birth than domestic calves, but they grow rapidly. While some Bison reach sexual maturity later than domestic cattle, they usually have a longer reproductive life and can therefore produce more healthy calves during an average lifespan.

Beefalo are true best-of-both-worlds animals. Typically, they inherit the Bison's production advantages such as fertility, good mothering, longer productive life, higher lean-to-fat ratio, hardiness, disease resistance, and the ability to efficiently convert even marginal or poor forage into a higher-quality meat protein. At the same time, Beefalo are generally as easy to manage as most domestic breeds. Anyone currently raising "regular" cattle can raise Beefalo...without ever owning a Bison and without investing more money in heavier corrals and higher fences.

Beefalo is bringing consumers back to beef.

According to the Meat Board, almost 30% of the people who have cut back on their consumption of beef (or eliminated it from their diets entirely) have done so because of legitimate concerns about excessive dietary fat and cholesterol. Because Beefalo has a higher protein efficiency and lower levels of both fats and cholesterol, many consumers who've been avoiding red meats are asking their doctors to take a closer look at the impressive nutrient profile for Beefalo. And their doctors are recommending Beefalo, even for heart patients, as part of a heart-healthy diet.

All measurements taken from 100 gram servings
	Protein	Cholesterol	Saturated Fats	Total Fat	Calories	% Calories From Fat
fish-1	22.9g	47mg	.104g	.81g	105	6.9%
chicken-2	31.0g	85mg	1.0g	3.5g	165	19.5%
pork-3	29.3g	86mg	3.4g	9.7g	212	41%
beef-4	25.9g	88mg	8.5g	21.5 g	305	63.6%
Beefalo-5	30.7g	58mg	2.7g	6.3g	188	30.3%

All figures taken from the USDA Nutrient Database for standard release 11 (September 1996)